NEW YORK With a slew of tablets scheduled to launch this year and the prediction by market analysts that sales of such devices—led by Apple's iPad—will outpace laptops by next year, it comes as no surprise that Research in Motion opted to promote its new BlackBerry PlayBook with an attention-grabbing mobile marketing campaign. Starting on April 28, just a little more than a week after the gadget was released, the public push brought tricked-out trucks to locations like Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit; Paramus, New Jersey's Garden State Plaza; and New York's Herald Square. Demos and giveaways ensued.

Experiential marketing agency Jack Morton Worldwide handled the trucks' interior design. The interiors are built out with large screens and theater-style setups for instructional demos. Smaller interactive stations provide hands-on access to the PlayBook, allowing visitors to test the features and apps, and see how content from BlackBerry smartphones can be synced with the tablet through BlackBerry Bridge software.

The truck's last stop this month was in Stamford, Connecticut, on Tuesday. Research in Motion plans to take the tour back on the road starting in June and will post the schedule on the campaign's dedicated microsite playbooktour.com.